Chapter 41
After Sean removed the packages and bundles, he laid everything on the bed. There were at least fifty kilos of drugs, and over half a million dollars in cash. This wasn’t just a local dealer; this was someone who had connections to a cartel.
But Chef Luke didn’t strike Sean as a mastermind. Sean thought of Roger, and his (possible) connection with Marco Donovan. Or maybe Luke was working with the Chicago gangster.
And who was to say that it was more than just one person? The whole staff could be involved. The Bonnie had a small group, and Sean imagined that it was hard for them to keep secrets in such tight quarters. Hell, Roger and Emily were sleeping together.
Sean stared down at the pile of drugs and cash on the bed. He couldn’t leave this here, but he also knew that carrying it around with him might not be a great idea.
Sean considered leaving the drugs in the air vent and trying to see who came back, but he didn’t have the manpower to do a stakeout. In the end, he loaded everything into a trash bag, replaced the vent, and decided to visit Chef Luke.
Chef Luke was in his room when Sean found him, and he half expected the man to be shooting up the moment he walked in.
Sean had his fair share of experience with people with an addiction. It was a disease, but it was one of the few sicknesses that destroyed more than just the user’s life.
The door to Luke’s room was open, and the chef didn’t look up when Sean entered. He was on the bed, scrolling on his phone, oblivious to the world around him.
“We need to talk,” Sean said.
“Kitchen’s closed,” Luke said.
“It’s not about lunch,” Sean said.
“Okay,” Luke replied, not looking away from his phone.
The man looked like a teenager, too lazy and too distracted to peel his eyes away from his screen. But Sean waited him out, standing nearby in awkward silence until Luke finally put his phone down and looked up at him.
“What?” Luke asked.
“You need to tell me who is giving you your drugs,” Sean answered.
“And why would I do that?” Luke asked.
“Because I found your stash,” Sean answered.
Up until now, Luke had remained indifferent. But there was danger in that kind of arrogance because when the fa?ade finally cracked, it was easy to spot. And the expression on Luke’s face was no longer indifferent. A more appropriate word would have been terrified.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Luke said, trying to shrug it off, but it was too late.
“The drugs you were hiding in the vent in room 109,” Sean said. “They’re not there anymore.”
Luke leaped out of bed, dropping his phone on the sheets. “What did you do?”
“I need to know who gave them to you,” Sean answered.
Luke shook his head, and then he started to take slow turns from side to side, then paced more frantically as the anxiety continued to build. “No, no, no, no, no, this can’t be happening.”
“You really don’t have a lot of options right now, Luke,” Sean said. “You can either cooperate with me, or I’ll arrest you now.”
“You stupid fucking cop!” Luke shouted, but when he screamed, he did so at the floor and wouldn’t even look Sean in the face.
“The ball is in your court now,” Sean said. “But I would suggest giving me the names because if you don’t, then I’m going to arrest you for kidnapping and murder.”
This caught Luke’s attention, and he snapped his head up. The front bangs dangled over his eyes; a pair of piercing, angry blue eyes, as though they were trying to set Sean on fire, glanced at him. “You have no idea what you’ve done,” Luke said. “You just signed all of our death warrants.”
Sean didn’t know if the chef was trying to intimidate Sean or throw him off the trail, but one thing was clear: the man was afraid.
“Explain it to me,” Sean said. “Did the bride see you with the drugs? Did the girl? If Karla Grayson is still alive, then there might be hope for you, but I can promise you right now that juries and the convicts in prison don’t treat people who hurt kids with the same level of indifference that you see with other crimes. Even most convicts have a code.”
Sean had seen all kinds of reactions when people were arrested. He’d seen people who tried to run, tried to bargain, tried to fight, cry, scream, but every once in a while, he came across Luke’s reaction now.
Laughter.
It started as a chuckle, then grew into something more hysterical, and the longer it lasted, the more unsettling it became.
“Well,” Luke said, finally starting to calm down. “You might as well go ahead and arrest me now, lawman. It won’t make a bit of difference in a little while.”
Sean studied Luke carefully. “Is that a threat?”
“Oh, no, not from me,” Luke answered. “But you’re about to piss off some very bad people. And I don’t think you’re prepared for the storm that’s about to come down on you. Me? I might survive. But that’s only if I keep my mouth shut. But you…” He shook his head. “You’re a dead man walking.”